I love to discover new things about the kids. They are all so different and approach things differently. Something one will do the other can't stand. Something one excels at another will really struggle with. It fascinates (and occasionally annoys) me that they can be so completely different. Today Joseph actually put a puzzle together. He managed to sit there and work on it and find matching pieces, he loved doing it, and he put it away without being asked. How fun! I never thought he would like sitting still that long working so meticulously on something.
The other day I came up with a new way for us to work on summer reading with Joseph. I have a friend who built a rock climbing wall in the kids play room. It's pretty neat, and takes up a surprisingly small amount of space. She put up letters at the hand holds and has her kids spell things out. I don't plan on building a rock climbing wall while we're here (but I do the next place we go!) so I got out the mini tramp and put up letter stickers with the letters that Joseph is working on right now. He loves it. He bounces away and smacks the letters when I call out the sounds. He gets so crazy with the jumping that I have to keep him from falling off frequently, but it's working! Hooray for great ideas. The surprising thing was Sariah. Rebekah was on the tramp, and I was having her spell out some words. Spelling is not a strong point with her. She can sound out just about anything now, and reads incredibly well for her age, but she does not like to spell. Teaching Rebekah to read was sooooo easy. Teaching Sariah to read has been hard for me and her. We had to take a month off for a while because we were both getting so frustrated with the whole process. I came up with a different way to work on reading with her, and slowly but surely she is getting there. She still can't read without frequent help. So that's why when I asked Bekah to spell a word and she couldn't figure it out fast enough, and Sariah jumped up there and shouts out "it's M A D" while slapping the letters really fast shocked me. We did more words and she just went right at it. Holy cow! Who would have thought that the child that can read so well wouldn't spell things easily, and the one that can't read very easily does it like it's no big thing?! Oh, and that poster there is of the helicopter that Jacob flies.
8 comments:
that is a perfectly awesome idea. do you leave the trap there for them to play on or do you put it away after learning time is done? or how do you do learning time?
I leave the tramp there now. It use to be under the end of my bed. Learning time is sporadic throughout the day especially in summer. I've been trying to get all the cleaning, school work, and that type of thing done early lately though so that everything after lunch time is free for the kids. Then the house is clean all afternoon while they play outside...so nice! I'm going to add numbers to it and the rest of the letters as Joseph moves on to them, and then I'll start adding sound combinations.
I love this idea! I think that is such a cool storry about Sariah. Every child really does learn differently. Although, I still am a fan of having my kids in public school I have really been enjoying summer where I get my kids to myself. We do "school" time when the babies go down for naps. It gives them something quiet to do and keeps the stuff they were learning fresh in their minds. Also, I'm able to work one on one with Vilate and learning the letters of the alphabet (like I was able to do last summer with Eliza who will be a kindergartener this next school year).
Hey we figure whatever works for your family go for it. We researched and prayed for almost two years before we decided to homeschool, and I know it's not for everyone, so don't think I'm trying to talk you into homeschooling! Every family is different just like each child, and the answers aren't the same for all of us. Public school is working for you guys, and homeschool works for us. That's what prayer is for!
I wasn't trying to make a comment about home schooling or not. I felt that by admitting I enjoyed having my kids home and teaching them school stuff I might have sounded interested in home school (which is still a possibility with individual children and individual grades) I wanted to make it clear that I still like public school even though I have been enjoying teaching them at home.
Wow, I haven't even thought about letters with the boys. That sounds like a fun idea! Where'd you get the stickers?
Have you guys started reading Boyd K Packer's book about teaching yet? I'm only at the beginning, but excited to learn more.
LOL..Mary don't you just love the internet where the tone of what you are saying doesn't come across right? I don't think I would have even thought of you homeschooling just because you were enjoying quiet time teaching the kids. You've always been good about teaching your children how to read before they go to school and doing things like that during the summer.
Nettie, when we do letters I don't teach the names of the letters at first. I like teaching the sounds first, and then the names of the letters. If you do the Teach your Child to Read book they also use that method. I cut the stickers out with my cricut. It's a Vinyl cutting machine. If you want I can cut a set out for you and mail them. I've never seen big vinyl letters anywhere in the stores. I'm sure you could order them online though. Let me know if you want some. I'm sure it's cheaper for me to do them than for you to buy them. I get the vinyl super cheap and they would fit in a flat rate envelope.
Yes, that would be nice! :) I just signed up with the homeschool funding program, and I'll be getting an alotment for learning materials. So I'll be buying that book soon about teaching in 100 easy lessons.
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